


Power is pink

by Artemysia93



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Abuse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Healthy Relationships, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lemon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Revenge, Romance, Short Story, alternative ending, long chapters, rediscover sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 01:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20073625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemysia93/pseuds/Artemysia93
Summary: Persephone has been working for a few weeks at the Underworld Corp. She thinks everything is fine by now, until Apollo sells to the media the photos he took without her consent. She's panicking: she can't come back to Artemis' place and she doesn't want to be seen around by paparazzi. Fortunately, Hades sees her crying in the hall, and offers her hospitality.During her stay, she'll finally be able to face what happened and rediscover her confidence through a healthy relationship.





	1. Power is pink

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks! As you can see, this is a Lore Olympus fanfiction. Before you start reading, just a few explanations:  
\- When I wrote this story, LO was around episode 53. The starting point is a few weeks after the first tour at the Underworld Corp. This is a short story of 6 chapters that is meant as an alternate ending, but of course in the original webcomic things by now are going waaay differently than I've imagined xD  
\- In this story, MINTHE IS GONE. NO MINTHE. This is because I really hate love triangles, and also I wanted to focus on Persephone's PTSD. So I just Imagined Hades got rid of her in those weeks, for some reason unknown. Bye bye Minthe.  
\- And last but not least, I'll be honest: english isn't my first language, and as all my other works this is translated from Italian. If you incurr in any mistake, feel free to correct me. Hope you'll enjoy it anyway! *.*

Hades could have many faults, but for sure he was hospitable.

He was keen to welcome into his own house, although it happened very rarely that someone would visit him and stay longer than one night. For the occasion, in fact, he had prepared one of the guest rooms, and not only cleaning it up. No, he had given his best: he had brought flowers, lots of potted flowers on every available surface. He had chosen an antique pink bedding set. And finally, he had bothered to supply the small bathroom with new women's accessories, which surely had bought just for that occasion, including a brush and even tampons. Persephone found it nice. It was a little too much, perhaps, but nice. She had never known a man who thought about her feminine needs before she did it herself. Maybe, naively, she had always thought that the male gender used to avoid the topic _menstrual cycle _so hard to have lost memory of it. Even her mother had always been very strict on the subject, requiring her not to talk about it except with other women.

"Don’t worry, I'm fine for this month."

It came out from her so involuntarily that she didn't immediately realize how intimate it sounded. As soon as she noticed it, however, she felt her blushing. She looked up to meet his gaze and apologize for her boldness, like Demeter had taught her. But Hades, on the other hand, was standing still, with large, patient eyes, and a neutral gaze.

"I must assume you don't plan to stay an entire month."

Persephone could not interpret his tone. It could’ve been both a joke or a sincere curiosity.

"Well, I don’t want to disturb you for so long. If I’m not out by then, I authorize you to use me as a snack for Cerberus."

Just then, the shadow of a sneer appeared under Hades’ important nose.

"Cerberus? You wish. He loves you. No, I’ll feed you to Cordon Bleu!"

The joke made Persephone laugh, sincere, and for a moment she forgot about all her worries. She sighed, running a hand through her short magenta hair, and went to sit on the bed to test its softness.

Hades followed her and stood in front of her, leaning against the dresser with his hands in the pockets. He spread an oblique smile, staring at her allusive.

"Sorry if all this is overstated" he nodded to the flowers and the bathroom, "I didn't know what you would’ve needed and I took everything. You ran away so fast that..."

He stopped, looked at her for a second, then shrugged. Persephone knew that his excuses were only one way, perhaps the most gallant he knew, to indirectly ask her the burning question: _why did you run away from Artemis’ place?_

Even Persephone shrugged and lowered her eyes a little. She used the excuse of tidying up her white skirt, but actually she was embarrassed. Indeed, more than that, she was disappointed with herself. She felt tears pierce her eyes, but pushed them back, to keep a minimum of self-respect: she had cried too many times in front of him, a King, as well as her boss, and she would’ve been even more disappointed by herself if she had done it for the umpteenth time.

She sighed, gathered courage and tried to explain.

"Well, I... there's someone I don't want to see there."

"Did you fight with Artemis?"

"No... not really... not her."

"Hey, Kore?" He said so encouragingly that Persephone had to look up at him, "If someone’s bothering you, you can say it. I couldn't be happier to have you here, believe me, but you shouldn't feel threatened, neither in the Underworld, nor on Olympus."

Persephone felt she was about to break inside. But she forced a smile and nodded.

"No, really, it's all right. Things with Artemis are a bit tense, yes. I was almost thinking of going home to my mother, but... I have a feeling that if I left now, I would never come back. And I don't want to mess up, I like my job, I like studying. You’re... you're too kind to offer me all this, you're right, maybe it's too much, sorry, I should go home, I should…"

"Hey, hey, Kore! Don’t panic!" He abandoned the drawer and reached closer, bringing a hand on her shoulder, " It’s okay to need a break sometimes, to change environment every now and then. Stupid Olympus, it really wears me out as well. Maybe it’s ‘cause of rarefied air."

He managed to smile at her and finally the atmosphere was lighter. Then he pretended he had had enough from that frugal explanation and closed the argument as a gentleman:

"You can stay here as long as you wish, you’re always welcome. Indeed, you do me a favor if you stay: an important spring goddess in a prolonged visit to the Underworld, let's say you soften the bad reputation and help our public image. Call it diplomatic hospitality. And since it's almost dinner time, what would the ambassador like to eat?"

Persephone knew that she couldn’t hide the truth forever, but for now she was fine with that. Then she jumped, cheerful, playful look and eyes bigger than ever.

"Do you have pizza here in the Underworld?"

The carton was left on the coffee table in the living room, open and now empty. The environment was dark, silent, made a little more welcoming only by the light of the big television and Cerberus’ snoring on the carpet.

Persephone, sated and more serene than a few hours before, was already in her pajamas, cross-legged sitting on the dark leather sofa. She was holding in her hands a pomegranate, fishing out the seeds with her fingers casually. She was more interested in the horror movie that was going on air.

"Why do pink characters always die first in scary movies?" She complained, her brows furrowed and her face tilted.

"Can you figure Eros survive ‘til the end?" Hades chuckled, beside her, now dressed in sports pants and a simple white T-shirt. Persephone had been surprised to see him so casual, initially, but had to admit that he hadn't lost his charm.

"I can’t speak for Eros, but I would survive. I wouldn't go alone, unarmed and in my underwear to the basement, for instance. I'm pink, not stupid."

"And then, maybe, there would be a blue guy protecting you. The blue ones always survive."

"Do you remember your scoundrelpercentage? You were at eighty percent, if I’m not mistaken. Now you've reached a hundred. Congrats." Persephone admonished him, taking the last pomegranate seed in her mouth and eating it vigorously with her head held high, pretending to be offended.

Hades laughed and shook his head, disguising disappointment. He stared at her for a moment with a grin, trying to bribe her.

"Twenty percent more seems to me a bit too much."

"Stereotypes about skin color would be worth even more, only you've already reached the maximum."

"So whatever I do, I’ll never be worse than this? Um, interesting."

Persephone shot him a sideways glance, to give him all her reproach without even bothering to turn her head completely. That provoked in him a loud laugh and a shrug, as saying that he would never dare to challenge her tolerance.

They kept watching the movie, which turned out with a series of bloody deaths largely among the pink characters. Persephone, who loved horror movies at least as much as she feared them, had looked with just one eye, left free by a small window in the blanket in which she had wrapped herself.

At the end of the movie, she emerged from hiers hiding place, stretching her legs. She glanced at Hades, and saw him particularly relaxed, almost... ruffled. It was strange to see him sitting so _natural_: Persephone had always seen him very stiff, perhaps because of the formal dressing amplifying that impression.

His red eyes shone for a moment, illuminated by that stupid Barley Mother cereal advertisement. But Hades had the decency not to comment and merely smiled at his guest.

“Are you tired?” He asked spontaneously. Now, more than ever, he didn’t seem at all her boss, let alone a millenary and omnipotent God. He seemed just a good friend.

The young goddess nodded, her eyes a little shiny with lethargy.

"Yes, indeed."

"Go to sleep. Get Cerberus if you want company. I’ll work."

Suddenly, Persephone realized that it was the weekend, and she thought that maybe she should have chosen a better day to disturb Hades in his house. Well... not that the choice was ever hers, anyway. She had been forced to leave.

"Oh, uh... sorry. I didn't want you to spend such a depressing Friday night. Surely you had other plans for the weekend..."

Hades stared at her with a pitiful look. Persephone only at the beginning thought that pity was for her, believing she had deprived her host of a crazy night of alcohol and beautiful women... but then she realized that Hades was pitying himself. Perhaps he was even embarrassed.

"Oh, it's not like I'm really... into parties, you know..." he confessed, in a low tone, "the plan for the weekend was just staying here and working, and tomorrow bringing Cordon Bleau to the groomer. With you, I..." he lowered his tone even more, "I enjoyed myself, I like movies."

"Um... okay, I'll believe you. You can come back to your original eighty percent."

They both smiled, Hades suddenly giggled. He was about to say something, perhaps sarcastically argue as usual, and yet the TV stopped him: after the ads, the nightly news had started.

Everything happened very quickly: Persephone noticed the nymph presenting, then, immediately afterwards, she read the breaking news on the overlay strip: _novice goddess, photo sh..._

She didn't even have to come to the end of the sentence to understand: she jumped up suddenly, looking for the remote control. She didn’t find it and, in despair, placed her whole body in front of the TV. Pretty useless, since it was almost as large as half the wall.

"Kore... what the...?" Tried to ask Hades, but she was already positioned in front of the screen, terrified.

"Don't look, please!"

"What? The nymph?"

He had tried to joke, but Persephone was serious, her terror was real, and Hades noticed it at that moment. She shook her head, squeezed her eyes, as if expecting at any moment to be attacked by a wild animal.

"Please, I beg you, don't look! Switch off!"

Hades, astonished, looked for the remote control and found it at his side. He grabbed it and, just as the voice of the announcer was beginning to introduce the fateful news, turned off the TV.

Persephone remained in front of the now dark screen, in the middle of an even darker room. Silence reigned, except for her panting. Outside the large windows, the lights of Erebus lit that eternal night.

"Kore... what’s up?” Hades asked cautious.

Persephone tried to calm her breathing and order the ideas into her head. It was time to tell him, then? She had hoped to have more time to delay.

"Hades, I... I... there's something you don't know about me..."

"All right. You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want."

And instead she had to, she was obliged. She had to because she couldn't keep Hades away from the TV and internet for the rest of his life, sooner or later he would come to find out anyway. It was better if he knew it directly from her, so she could explain her point of view first.

Persephone tightened her arms around her body and seemed to get smaller than she already was. She swallowed, embarrassed and mortified, and once again tried not to cry.

"No, listen, I want to talk about it... well... this is also the reason why I didn't want to go back to Artemis’. It seems like some photos of me are spreading... "

A sigh from Hades. At first Persephone didn’t understand if it was out of blame, but when he spoke he was as accommodating and kind as ever.

"Oh, Kore, you don't have to worry. I’m used to gossip, I know paparazzi, they’ll always build up stories about gods. Don't give them too much credit."

"Hades" she interrupted him seriously, "it’s not gossip. Those photos are real. They’re horrible. But they’re real."

Now that she had said it aloud, she felt her heart fall into her chest. All the weight of what had happened fell on her shoulders like the earth on Atlas' back, and the tears she had tried to hold back found their way through her eyelids, gushing fast and running down her cheeks.

"Oh." Was the only comment of the god, perhaps involuntary.

That single syllable made Persephone sink into an abyss of fear: he was her boss, was he judging? Would he have fired her? What would he think of her now?

"I know, I was stupid!" she tried to justify herself, trembling, "I ruined everything! They’ll take away my scholarship, my mother... oh, my mother... She’ll force me to go home or she’ll repudiate me, I don’t even know... and then you..."

"Me? What?" Hades was genuinely amazed now.

He rose to his feet, too tall. He wasn’t threatening, but Persephone perceived him as a superior anyway, and a... a man... like Apollo, maybe. Apollo who had taken those photos, and who had threatened to show them to the world.

She stepped back.

"You... you'll fire me. And you'd be right to do it, and... sooner or later you'll see those horrible photos, and you'll think of me..."

"What should I think about you, Kore?" He was shocked, he shook his head wide-eyed, "You owe me nothing. You don't owe me any explanation for your private life. You don't owe it to anyone."

And finally, Persephone relaxed. She stopped backing away and no longer felt threatened. Hades' tone was kind, comforting, sincere.

She let him get closer, until they were a few inches apart. Hades, to see her at his height and perhaps not to seem too intimidating, lowered himself on one knee and came to see her straight in the eyes. He gave her a melancholic smile and, in total silence, all he did was reach out and wipe away a tear.

"Kore" he sighed, whispering, "I'm not Hestia, ok? I’m not your mother and I’m not one of your teachers of chastity and maidenhood. You’re free to do what you want, with whomever you want. I'm just sorry that those photos ended up in the wrong hands."

If only he had known that they had always been in the wrong hands, that what she had done wasn’t what she had wanted, and not with whom she wanted... but this she didn’t say all this. It was too much for one night.

"They... they'll kill me. This time I messed up real bad."

"Kore, please don't think about your mother or that stupid scholarship, okay? You’re nineteen! It’s literally impossible to ruin an eternal life in just nineteen years!"

Persephone laughed in tears.

"Well, great King of the Underworld, I think you underestimate my ability to fuck up."

"Precisely because I have examples of real shit done during my life, I know this isn't. Ok? Don’t worry. Even if they revoke your scholarship, what does it matter? You have a job you like, and I certainly don't want to fire you for some compromising photos. There are so many of myself to build a dam for the Styx. Or maybe the problem is that you wanted... did you really want to be an eternal maiden?"

Somehow, Hades seemed to doubt it, as if he had always thought that after all she wasn’t cut for that role. And at that moment, only at that moment, Persephone admitted to herself her own weakness.

"No" she whispered, contrite, "I had applied to make my mother happy. I thought I could do it, I thought I could be as strong as Artemis, she did it, she doesn't care about men, but I... I 'm just... a useless pink goddess."

Hades tilted his head, almost in disbelief, with a forced and crooked smile.

"Artemis ... she’s the goddess of hunting, Kore. She literally _kills _what you create. Of course she can remain a virgin for life, she doesn't need to give birth to anything. A bit like... like me. But you’re a goddess of fertility! You are _spring_! You are vitality, and strength! It’s normal for you to want to have experiences. Don't try to be something you are not just to make others happy. And trust me, Demeter knows about your nature. I know her. She will have to deal with it, sooner or later."

Persephone felt... understood. For the first time in her life, someone had managed to put into words what she had always felt and never managed to express.

Suddenly, unable to restrain herself, feeling a burst of gratitude, she eliminated the last, small barrier between her and Hades' body: she hugged him. She put her arms around his neck and was surprised at his shoulders, too much out of proportion. Then, quiet and heartened, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Thank you."

Hades remained rigid and steady for a few seconds. Finally, Persephone felt his shoulder muscles relax: he returned the hug, lacing his arms around her waist. He sighed too.

"Everything is alright. Early tomorrow I’ll try to contact a couple of people and put a brake on this matter. You'll see, in a week everyone will forget what happened. Now go to sleep, come on. You’re tired. Everything will look much better tomorrow morning."

Persephone sighed again, more deeply, and felt her strength almost drain. Unlike what one might have imagined, Hades’ grip was warm, welcoming, he felt like home. And the young goddess, suddenly, felt guilty for having compared him to Apollo, even if only for a moment and unconsciously. No, Hades wasn’t Apollo. He had never been.

She wiped her tears, sniffed a little.

"Oh, you've got everything under control… I wish I were a powerful blue god too."

"No, trust me" he murmured, "power is pink."


	2. Memories of the Titanomachy

Persephone had slept well. Since she had changed her life, abandoning the mortal world and her mother, she had never rested for so many hours and so deeply. Not to mention the insomnia that had taken her after the episode of Apollo...

But Persephone didn’t want to feel sad, especially not when she had just woken up: she pushed away all the troublesome thoughts and got up from the bed. Cerberus, lying on the mat, greeted her with ears pricked and tongue sideways, panting cheerful.

The goddess rose to her feet, not very sure what time it was, since in the underworld there wasn’t sunlight. She looked at her alarm clock and saw that it was half past eleven, Saturday.

She sighed, revived the flowering plants that furnished the room, brushing them gently one by one. Then she went to the bathroom and got ready for the day. She had no idea what to do, to tell the truth, so she dressed comfortably: what she had planned, even if she didn't want to admit it even to herself, was to stay as far away from prying eyes as possible. There, holed up in a house that was more like a palace, and in which she felt like an intruder. But what else could she do? Where else to go?

She sighed again and decided she had to go look for the host. She then left her room with Cerberus, who immediately ran away, anxious perhaps to eat or play with the other dogs.

Persephone remained alone in that dark and cold villa. Only in her room there was a hint of color, and everything was just for her, because otherwise the place was aseptic, almost ghostly. Very neat, almost bare, and then essential, icy. Well, suited to its master.

The young goddess walked the corridors, lost, surprised for the second time by how immense that place was. Of course, the God of wealth, diamonds and precious metals could afford it. But, in her heart, Persephone wondered what he did with all that aseptic luxury, all that space. Such a large house could only amplify the sense of solitude.

But perhaps the King liked solitude.

Persephone stopped, having seen him not far away, in the indoor pool, separated from the corridor only by a glass wall. He was swimming in freestyle through the length of the pool, and he hadn't noticed her.

Lonely. The King of the Underworld, the largest of the three domains in which all the souls of existence were destined, was the most alone among the dieties. For a moment, Persephone took pity on him.

She gathered courage and entered the pool room, from the glass door. She strolled lightly over the edge of the pool, careful not to slip, and yet Hades hadn’t seen her. She waited until he reached the opposite side of the pool, swimming to turn back, and then Persephone sat down and soaked her bare legs, dressed only in a pair of shorts.

When Hades reached her, he almost slammed into her, and then stopped. He stood, water at stomach level, and brushed his white hair from his face, blinking hard.

"Kore!" He greeted her, surprised, "How long have you been awake?"

The impetuosity with which he tried to be the best host ever amused the young goddess, who smiled at him and immediately covered her lips with a chaste gesture of her hand.

"I woke up a while ago, I was just hanging around. Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you."

"You certainly don't disturb, Spring. You bring color where you walk. As far as I'm concerned, you can, indeed, you have to hang around as much as possible. This place looks like a mortuary. Well... it is."

He accompanied the joke with a wink and Persephone frowned, astonished that even the master of the house thought so.

"That’s not true, it’s a beautiful house. Maybe it could be better with a little feminine touch."

Hades smiled, opened his mouth, as if to throw a joke, but at last seemed to change his mind. He frowned, just a little, so he said something definitely very different from what he wanted:

"There has never been a need, so far" he dismissed the issue and quickly changed the subject, "hey, what do you want to do? Breakfast?"

"Um, no thanks, it's too late, I'll wait for lunch."

"Do you... want to join me, maybe? I know you're a good swimmer. Your curriculum said you won important competitions."

Persephone couldn’t restrain a satisfied smile, raising her head a little, proud of herself.

"Yeah, I was in the junior league! But I don't have a swimsuit, I'm afraid."

She sighed and thought of how easier it would be in the mortal world, where she had so often bathed in lakes and rivers simply dressed in her own skin. But there in the underworld, as well as on Mount Olympus, and in general among the other gods, nothing was easy. And she, perhaps, had to get used to the fact that she was no longer a child, that she had to hide her shapes, emerged just a few years before. If it had never been a problem to be seen naked by Hermes, yes, it would’ve been a problem to be seen naked by Hades, and it saddened her a bit, as if everything was more fetish than before.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't think about getting you a swimsuit."

And there was the obsession with hospitality, and Persephone found it even more funny.

"It doesn’t matter" she reassured him, "I can stay here, you keep on swimming."

"Come in dressed." He proposed, shrugging his shoulders.

"C… can I?"

"Sure. It's just water, and those are just clothes."

Hades was always so pragmatic as to make the interlocutors of the mentally handicapped heard feel stupid: he always had the tone of someone forced to explain obviousness. But Persephone didn’t care, and reluctantly but cheerfully grabbed the hand he was offering. She dived into the water. Too cold, as the rest of the house.

When she landed, she did it only with the tips of her toes, and still risked drinking some water. She had to stretch her neck, keeping her chin high to be able to breathe.

Hades, who was looking down at her from the level of the water that barely touched his diaphragm, burst out laughing. It was rare for him to do it so sincerely and soundly.

"Hey! You could... you could make it less deep!"

Persephone tried not to laugh. Then she jumped a little and started swimming to stay afloat. She looked around: there wasn’t even a handle to grab. Actually, there wasn't even a ladder. Hades noticed her astonishment.

"I like to drown the guests. As in _The Sims._"

Persephone didn’t know what _The Sims was_, but laughed anyway.

"So, Kore, tell me" shoot Hades, with his usual suggestive tone, as if he was saying one thing but meant quite another, "Are you better at swimming or at playing chess?"

"Swimming. Which says a lot, don't you think?" She teased him with an equally suggestive tone, referring to the chess game she had won days before.

"Oh, I believe you. But it’s not the custom of the King of the Underworld to be duped with fine words. So, may I suggest a race?"

"My King speaking about himself in the third person is very disturbing."

"Are you trying to sneak off?"

But Persephone broadened a confident smile.

"Not at all. I was giving you the chance to save yourself."

Even Hades spread a smile, this time satisfied, more than sarcastic or impertinent. It was as if, deeply, he liked that boldness. Persefone knew that it was not common for him to behave that way, partly because she had seen his predisposition towards others, always very authoritarian, partly because at the Underworld Corp his subordinates used to talk about him: they didn’t complain, he wasn’t a bad principal, but he was not affable either, and it wasn’t his custom to allow such liberties to everyone. In short, Persefone had the feeling that he was so just with her, and she wondered if she was right or if it was only the shadow of her personal desire.

"Okay, one lap?"

"Two. I'm good at outdistancing on the turn, please."

"Sure, if you think you can do it..."

"I used to compete on two hundred meters, so yes, _I'm sure _I can do it. And then, during my competition, I was against _young _opponents."

She said it without thinking, and almost immediately feared she had dared too much. But Hades didn’t seem offended; on the contrary, he stared at her with ember-colored eyes and his face leaning slightly forward, in a predatory but still amused expression.

"_Touché. _Now prove it."

They arranged a start. They put themselves in position and, given the signal, the race began.

Both were quick and skilled. Hades for experience and private training, Persephone for competitive commitment. They were making their arms spin at their maximum strength.

They reached the other edge almost even, Hades a little earlier, mostly due to the length of his limbs. But Persephone, as anticipated, had a fast turn, and that was her chance at least to eliminate the advantage he had with his height.

Even during the second lap, both gave their best. They were almost at the end, side by side, and both reached out in the last stroke to touch the edge first.

They touched it. Together. One with the right, the other with the left, both with the hand on the same tile, brushing their fingers.

They stopped. Hades remained standing, Persephone continued to float in the water. She was pleased to see that, even though she hadn’t won, at least the god was out of breath.

They looked at each other, they smiled panting. Then they both turned their gaze to their hands, which were still touching against the pool edge, and Hades retracted his first.

"Well, Kore, you're... you're fast." He admitted, this time too serious, embarrassed.

Persephone didn’t know for what he was embarrassed, perhaps for having been almost beaten, or more likely for their touch. But in any case, she wanted to lighten the atmosphere again, and splashed some water on his face.

"We’re even, my King, just because you rested before starting, and because I have these clothes to slow me down. A good host like you gave me neither a swimsuit nor a handle where I can rest my feet, what a disappointment... and then you are _too long_."

She laughed and finally Hades let himself be infected. But, besides being the God of the dead and of wealth, he was also a man who cared especially for honesty, and therefore shrugged.

"Kore, I have to admit, you would’ve won a real race."

"Thank you. Then I deserve a prize. What did I win?"

"My appreciation?" He proposed impertinent.

"Watch out for the percentage..."

"No, no!" He pretended to be scared, "Okay, you won... a favor."

"A favor?"

"Yes, it is a precious commodity among the Gods. You can ask me what you want, whenever you want. And I will consent."

Persephone widened an oblique smile, almost mortified.

"I have a feeling you are doing too many favors already."

Hades shook his head, sincere and calm.

"I offered you to come here, it's not a favor you asked me. That's okay, don't worry. What kind of King would I be if I had left you crying in the lobby? Well… what kind of _man _would I be?"

He smiled sweetly at her and, contrary to the coldness he had shown removing their physical contact, reached out and touched her ear, combing back a strand of slimy hair. And only at that moment he seemed to notice that she was exhausted, unable to rest anywhere. He offered her an arm then, and she clung to it gladly.

That simple gesture suddenly and exponentially increased their contact, so that they looked at each other for a moment, aware of what was happening. Persephone, breaking the immobility, in a movement of courage, reached out to cling to the biceps, and then to the shoulder. She tied her arms around his neck: now there was nothing left between their bodies except her wet shirt. Like the night before. Indeed, even more intimate than the night before.

Hades remained with his arms wide open for a moment. He was never very responsive to expressions of affection, but then he always recovered: once again, in fact, he embraced her with a sigh.

Then he did even more: asking for an implicit permission with a look, he turned her sideways and lifted her, holding her legs from the hollow of his knees and supporting her back with the other arm.

He stared at her, with a sincere but shy smile.

"Better?"

Persephone nodded, returning the smile. Then, silent, she looked at him, now that he was so close. She noticed his large shoulders, the defined muscles, the hairless chest that was breathing against her and keeping her warm, in that icy water. But, above all, she lost herself counting the clear and long scars that marked his whole body, following the tracks, feeling sorry for him as she imagined the pain from which they had been generated.

Hades noticed, but said nothing. Persephone only for a moment sought agreement in his eyes, but found it immediately: the God of the Underworld was tamed and wouldn’t have prevented her from exploring. Then, timidly, she crossed the scar on his left shoulder with an index finger. She felt they weren’t in relief. They were just a different color than the rest of the complexion: they had to be very old indeed.

"How... how did you get them?"

"During the Titanomachy. Did your mother tell you about it?"

"Vaguely." And it was true, Demeter had always been very laconic about her past.

Hades looked away, perhaps to help his memory, perhaps for not having visual contact with Persephone while she was so vulnerable.

"I understand her, it was horrible. Years of war and destruction, and that monster of Cronus... it’s his fault. He made me these scars. His claws, just one hit, and…"

Persephone shivered, not so much for the subject, but for Hades’ tone. He noticed it, hugged her more tightly, and looked back into her eyes. He smiled.

"... but you don't have to think about it, it's been a long time, the Titans are harmless now. They’re just old scars, old memories, they’re no longer important."

Persephone nodded and didn’t make him uncomfortable with other questions, because she felt that, contrary to what he was saying, for him it was still important.

"I think they’re beautiful." She simply confessed and snatched a bitter smile.

Suddenly, Persephone felt a strange warmth at her stomach, a weight which was blocking her breath in her throat, taking away her strength from her wrists and her limbs. He saw Hades looking higher, toward her hair, and she understood that a crown of flowers must have formed against her will. Now, in fact, white petals were falling and resting on the surface of the water, floating around them.

"Oh, sorry…"

But he smiled, entranced in observing the blooming flowers, completely indifferent to the petals she was spreading in the pool.

"No" he murmured, then resumed her identical words "_I think they’re beautiful_."

Persephone held her breath, flattered inside her soul for that compliment which sounded so sincere.

The fire inside her burned harder, up to the point that she began to fear that he would feel it too. And so, surrendering completely to her instinct, Persephone decided not wait anymore, because she no longer wanted half measures, partial solutions. She wanted _everything. _She wanted to be herself.

She kissed him.

She craned her neck quickly and kissed him on the tip of his lips, not daring to go too far. She drew back at once, returned to her place, lying on his shoulder, dreaming, hoping... hoping he didn't think she was a fool, that he wouldn't laugh at her, at the tiny pink goddess who couldn't even control her powers.

But no, Hades wasn’t laughing at all. He was staring at her, incredulous, scared, his crimson eyes wide open and his thin lips half-open under his pointed nose.

"Kore..." he whispered so softly that his voice was not really sound, but just a breath full of tension, expectation and desire.

This time he lowered towards Persephone's face, resting his thin lips again on her flesh, in a perfect contrast of pink and blue, hot and cold, life and death.

It was slower this time, a more intense and more lasting union. The young goddess felt the warmth explode inside her, as soon as Hades opened his lips with his tongue. He asked her to open, and she opened it, because she wanted it, she felt the need. And finally their mouths came together and they became one.

And it was as it always should have been.


	3. Phoebus' crime

On Sunday, Hades stayed away all day. Persephone had woken up in her room, serene, happy, and had immediately found a note on the door: _I'm at Zeus', it'll take a while, make yourself at home._

And then Persephone had taken it literally: she had explored a little more, without trespassing in his room, and he had played with Cerberus. She had carefully avoided TV or internet, but she had something to do with all the books he had found, the gym, the cinema room and the swimming pool.

She was feeling good. Those photos, although still a torture, weren’t affecting her mind too much. All day long she had been unable to think of anything but him, their kiss, and how much Hades had been a gentleman afterwards: he had never touched her, never, not even by mistake. Which had surprised her, because she still had in mind the words of Artemis, who warned her of the passion of the Kings; but, also, it had surprised her because she remembered how it had been with Apollo.

Persephone allowed herself to think that, perhaps, this was how a relationship should be. Maybe it wasn't just her to be a naïve girl, maybe Apollo had his share of guilt. Hades hadn't immediately pushed her into a bed, he hadn't even mentioned it: he had simply smiled after the kiss. And then he had helped her out of the pool, and the day had gone on as usual, just happier.

_Happy. _Persephone wanted to be so for the rest of her life.

And she succeeded all day, it was a good starting point. She was anxious to see Hades again, and it occurred to her to surprise him, even to return the hospitality. Then she went to the stove and decided to prepare dinner, hoping that he would arrive on time. She checked the ingredients available in the fridge and finally decided: _pomegranate chicken_.

She cooked, but she had no time to properly plate and serve, because he returned earlier than expected: the Goddess was warned first by the barking of Cerberus, and then by the headlights of the car in the darkness of the Underworld. Then she spread a smile and at least hurriedly pulled the chicken out of the oven, to show it to him on the pan.

When Hades entered, however, it took Persephone only a second to realize that something was wrong in his expression. The smile died in her face as she saw him so dark, looking at his feet. In fact, the God didn’t even greet Cerberus; he merely went in and closed the door behind him, as if frozen. He gave her a look, finally, with his head lowered and his hair falling in front of his forehead.

Persephone felt anxious. She set the pan on the kitchen and approached cautiously. She didn't dare say anything, but a thousand thoughts were flashing in her mind all at the same time: what had happened? Work problems? Family problems? Or maybe she was the problem herself?

She remained silent, alert, peering at him with big eyes.

"Hi, Kore."

He said it too coldly, too sad. Which gave certainty to Persephone that she was the problem. Was he angry? Did he have bad news?

"Er... hi."

"Are you okay?"

A question that sounded false, or rather, that seemed to hide a much broader, generic meaning. Persephone attempted to remain in calm waters.

"Yes, of course. I cooked... pomegranate chicken."

Hades raised his head, peered into the kitchen, saw the steaming pan. And for the first time since he had entered, thankfully, he had the shadow of a smile.

"Thank you, Kore. You're kind."

He said no more, and again he grew dark again. Strange: he seemed really grateful for the dinner, a sign that maybe he wasn't angry with her. But Persefone couldn’t understand why he behaved in such an unfriendly way. Suddenly, it occurred to her that it could have something to do with the photos.

She pursed her lips, tried to ask for explanations. She did it with fear, because in the end the King still frightened her. Not in a physical way, just... she cared what he thought of her. She didn't want to look bad or offend him in any way.

"Hades... do you want to... tell me what's up?"

He suddenly relaxed his shoulders and closed his eyes. He exhaled a strained sigh, then raised his eyelids and met Persephone's gaze.

"May we take a seat?"

He had become suddenly too thoughtful, as if to announce the death of someone.

Persephone agreed and headed for the kitchen. But he suddenly stopped her and took her to the living room, pointing to her to sit on the couch. Perhaps he wanted her more comfortable, less distracted by the food? Persephone had the distinct feeling that she was about to be scolded. Had she done something wrong at work? Perhaps the banned scholarship was a greater obstacle than they imagined? She could no longer make assumptions, she was too tense by now.

She sat on the couch, as requested, and so did Hades next to her. He turned a little with his body in her direction, but he barely managed to look her in the face.

"Look, I think we have to... talk about something..."

"Hades, you... you're scaring me. Have I done something wrong?"

"No, no, never." The God immediately clarified, with tight lips. He seemed to want to put his hand on her knee, perhaps to encourage her, but immediately he held back and withdrew it.

Almost as if the idea of touching her was repelling.

"Hades, you saw those photos, didn't you?"

Hades tightened his lips and gave her a look full of pity, which implied an affirmative answer. Persephone hated that expression. She felt tears pressing. She swallowed, embarrassed, humiliated, but tried not to cry.

"I went to my brother on purpose, to tell the truth," he hastened to explain, contrite, "the photos were taken on Olympus, apparently, so it’s Zeus’ jurisdiction. He’s used to covering this kind of scandals, especially because they often concern him. And then... we were talking about it and... yes, I saw them."

Persephone held her breath. She tried to console herself, to minimize.

"Well, sooner or later you would’ve seen them anyway, wouldn't you?"

Hades frowned again.

"Yes, I suppose so. But... Kore... the problem isn’t about the photos themselves. If it can be of consolation, Zeus has issued the order for the press to not use them any further. But the fact is that..."

Persephone felt a lump of anxiety in her throat. Suddenly, she didn't want to hear anything about what Hades had to say. She could imagine: _those photos are worse than I thought, look, you look like a whore. You have to leave._

Yes, he would’ve said that. And he would’ve been right to say that. She felt so _dirty_, right into her bones. She could’ve washed for hours, and that feeling of filth would’ve never gone away. And it was her fault.

It was her fault because she had said yes. It was her fault because she hadn’t stopped Apollo when he was taking those photos.

Tears pressed more in the back of her eyes, while calling herself slut and stupid in her own mind, silly country girl. Hades should’ve driven her away, both from his house and from the Underworld Corp. What could he do with a hysterical whiner who brings nothing but scandals?

And indeed she could no longer restrain her tears. She scolded herself even more, but the more she did, the more she cried.

"Kore... please..."

Again, he made a gesture as if to embrace her, but restrained himself, retreated and put his hands on his knees, on the dark suit. And this, Persephone thought, because he too could smell and see the filth she felt on herself.

_He was repulsed._

"I... I understand. I'm sorry I brought all this trouble. I'm leaving…"

"No, no! Kore, no, stay, I didn't want to... oh, Gods..."

This time he leaned forward a little to block her, fearing she would get up and run away, but he still didn't touch her. He sighed, pursed his thin lips, preparing for a long and difficult discussion.

"You're safe here, okay? You can stay. Indeed, _you must _stay, I can’t let you go. For... your own good."

"Hades, what happened?" She asked in tears, now incredulous, confused.

Hades had never been possessive. How could he? He was used to changing women often, who in turn often changed their men. Never once, not even once, he had imposed himself on Persephone. If he was suddenly demanding something like staying with him at all costs, it had to be for a serious reason.

"Kore..." he began, looking like someone who is already tired, like Sisyphus pushing a stone uphill for centuries, "Kore, the fact is that I was expecting… _normal _photos_. _I thought... let's face it, I thought you had slept with someone, and there would’ve been nothing wrong with that, that’s why I told you it was fine. I thought... I don't know... I thought they were photos of a paparazzo taken from the outside, I didn't believe..."

He stopped, held his breath. He stared into her eyes and Persephone, confused, didn't know what to think. She herself had _not _seen the photos. Suddenly, she was afraid of what they portrayed. Perhaps they were much worse than she had expected.

Hades was about to reach the point of the situation, but once again he had to take time: he exhaled a powerful, stressed sigh. And it was rare for him, who was usually so tranquil.

"Gods, maybe... maybe I'm not the right person... do you want to talk about it with someone else? A woman? Do you want me to call Hera? It’s okay, I understand if you don't want me."

Persephone began to tremble in terror. She knew where the speech was going, but it was as if she had decided she didn't want to understand it.

She stood up, hugged her body with her arms to cover herself, cover all the _shame _she was feeling. She stepped back, looked away, searched for something neutral to look at, because she couldn't stand the red eyes of the God of the dead directly in her own. The breath began to get heavier, like she was still in the water, and couldn’t get air, because it was impossible to swim in that sea of humiliation.

"Kore, Kore, look at me, listen to me. It's okay."

Out of the corner of her eye Persefone saw that he wanted to get up too from the sofa to calm her, but he didn't, because he was aware of his size and didn't want to make her feel trapped. Those concerns towards her made her feel even more inadequate. She was grateful, but she considered herelf not worthy to receive them from a King.

"Kore, it's really necessary for you to tell me if they forced you to do... something."

"The photos?" she asked in tears. She knew the question was way more comprehensive, but once again she had chosen not to understand it, she had placed a wall in front of herself.

"The photos, yes. But also _something else. _Did they force you to do... what you were doing?"

It was a question, and yet it was as if it weren't. He already knew. He knew everything, was always very insightful, and when he was sure of something, it was already useless to try to dissuade him or to minimize. If he was asking, it was only because he wanted to hear it from her, not because he needed confirmation.

Finally, Persephone found the strength to make a sound, though suffocated.

"How do you... how do you know?"

Hades' thick dark eyebrows drooped outward. He was suffering. It wasn't pity, he was suffering too. And so, without saying anything, only from that small detail, Persephone felt he could understand. Again.

Hades wasn’t Apollo and never would’ve been. And he wasn't there to chase her or scold her, as Artemis might have done. He was worried about her, he was suffering no less than her.

"Kore" he often repeated her name to try to pull her to safety, like a rope thrown into the ocean where she felt like drowning, "Kore, there’s your face on those photos… you were... crying. _Anyone _should’ve realized that you weren't having fun. Please tell me what happened. I can help you."

At that point, not even she knew why, she exploded. Perhaps because she simply had closed the truth inside herself for too long, perhaps because it was time. She didn’t know. She only knew that a blind rage had taken hold of her, a fury that turned to Hades even though he didn't deserve it, just because he was the only present.

"You can help! You’re always ready to help me! You do all this for me, for what purpose? Do you want to show how influential and wealthy you are and how you always keep everything under control?"

"No. I do it because I care about you."

He said it almost detached, flat, because for him it was a fact, not a concession or a compliment. It was just that. Mathematical.

"Yes, but _why_? What do you find in me? A stupid minor goddess who always cries, and who didn't even know how to say no to that..." she froze, she didn't say the name, she changed subject, "even my mother was forced, you know? Except that unlike me she said _no. _She fought until the end, she didn't make it, but she fought. I... let him do everything. I told him yes. And then I closed my eyes, I hoped it would end quickly without even... without even trying to push him away, you understand? Then he pulled out his cell phone, took those fucking photos, and I had just arrived and I barely knew what a photo was... I didn't even know what was going on, it was the first time and..."

She felt her hair begin to grow and she cursed it aloud. From her short bob, the hair stretched quickly beyond her ears, reaching her shoulders.

"No, no, Kore, please."

And that was the final incentive for Hades to get up, perhaps convinced that leaving her alone was even worse than looking like an aggressor.

He joined her, wrapped his hands around her neck and jaws, raised her hair a little. As if he was trying to stop it, as if it hurt him to see it grow against her will.

Persephone, now, was looking up at him. Tears flooded her cheeks even more and he tried to dry them with both thumbs.

"Stupid... fucking hair..."

By now the hair had arrived beyond her waist, and wasn’t stopping.

"Don't worry, we'll... we'll cut it, okay? It’s not a problem, don't think about the hair."

"It happened even that night, but he didn't care. When he finished he said that he liked it long."

What a frivolous thing. It really was a trifle compared to all that Apollo had done, but somehow that sentence had offended her almost more than anything else.

"Well, I like it short. I like the way you want to keep it."

And again, Persephone felt frivolous, because the compliment of Hades, opposed to that of Apollo, calmed her much more than all his offers of support or help. She didn't know why.

"It was my fault" she confessed, "I let him do it, I have no right to accuse him if I didn't even say no."

"You were scared, Persephone" Hades was now staring at her with a stern frown, " you were scared and inexperienced, and it is _the duty _of a man to distinguish between a true consent and a forced consent. I noticed it from a photo, Kore. Just one, single picture, and you want me to believe this guy hadn’t realized you were crying all along? This is _unforgivable_. But he will have what he deserves. Tell me who he is."

Persephone shook her head. She backed away a little, Hades didn't hold her back and didn't come near to let her breath. The hair had now reached the floor.

"No, please, don't force me to tell you."

"Why not? Do you want to defend him? You're in love?"

"No!"

The very idea gave her a sickness.

"And so why?"

"Because he's more important... he's more important than me."

And there was the truth coming to the surface. She couldn’t report him because he was more important than her. The world could survive without Persephone, a redundant goddess of flowering, but it couldn’t renounce Apollo and the rising of the sun, and the arts, and all the good he represented. And in her heart Persephone was convinced that, even if she had turned against him, and even if she had succeeded in demonstrating his crime, the choices of any judge and even of public opinion would never have been in her favor.

But Hades was the judge of the judges, and his sense of justice was uncompromising, for better or for worse. Persephone knew it, but above all she had the confirmation that day, when she saw, reflected in his ember eyes, the true face of the Inexorable One, cold and calculating, magistrate of souls and faults. There was nothing that could make him forget a crime like that.

When he spoke he did it with such cold and authoritative logic that he looked like a severe marble statue.

"Kore, no influential position can justify what happened to you. I’d say the same even if a King my brother had raped the last of the nymphs. Your rights are clear, and I intend to enforce them, especially as long as you are in my kingdom. And the same will be done by Zeus and Poseidon in theirs, or you can bet that the Titanomachy will seem like a party compared to what I will unleash. So, I ask you: tell me who did it. There is no name you can say that could make me change my mind."

Persephone was petrified, standing in that corner of the room, not knowing what to do or say except panting in a panic. She looked at the ground and saw that her hair had never been so long, and it was piling up at her feet in a thousand swirls.

Then, suddenly, a question in her head: _why not_? Why not tell him? And not because he was a king and could use his protection. It would’ve been foolish not to admit that having the God of the dead on her side was an advantage, but that wasn’t the main reason. The fact was that she felt really _tired. _She had been running away from that situation for too long. She wanted, she needed to deal with it. Perhaps the disgust she felt would never have completely disappeared, but she certainly couldn't hope to improve until she faced the situation.

Persephone wanted her justice, even if she hadn’t yet understood it rationally.

"Apollo! It was Apollo!" she confessed in one breath, "That was why I couldn’t come back to Artemis. He’s her brother, and he’s always around that apartment! After he threatened to show those photos the only idea to see him at home again..."

Hades reaction was neutral, indeed absent, but only in his expression or in his gestures. Because while he remained motionless and stern as usual, his body was gradually transforming. The eyes turned from embers to charcoals, the complexion darkened and lit up with all the lights of the universe. And finally his hair stretched beyond his shoulders. Long hair, symbol of strong emotions.

"Hm, Phoebus. No less."

He didn't say anything else, he didn't express opinions, yet he had the ability to make that single epithet sound like the worst of insults.

The transformation of his body was at that time complete and Hades didn’t seem like just any God, but _the _God, the judge of the dead, the Plouton. Now Persephone knew why mortals were afraid of him to the point of not praying to him.

And yet, strangely, the more threatening he became on the outside, the less she feared. His true appearance, indeed, calmed her, as if he had something familiar.

She wiped her tears, her pink hair finally stopped growing. She took a step towards him, shy and at the same time bold, until she was close. She looked at him from below, curious, and placed both hands on his forearm.

Hades didn’t change expression at all. But Persephone knew that this rigor wasn’t for her.

"You’re very thoughtful, Hades, I appreciate it" she murmured, sincerely, "but please, calm down."

"I am calm."

He had said it with such a coldness that could make Hestia’s hearth freeze. A deadly, unrelenting tone that made every single syllable sound as a sentence.

Persephone swallowed.

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Nothing he doesn’t deserve."

"And what about me? Will I just have to be the victim?"

Hades was surprised. He tilted his head a little, frowned, staring at her with the two black wells that were now his eyes.

"Of course not. Do you want justice? You will have justice."

He spread a smile, both respectful to her and cruel to Apollo, and bowed his head. He cuddled her hair, bringing it behind her ear, and made her chin lift.

"I was a coward, sorry. But I'm exhausted, I don't want to hide anymore."

"No" he kept consoling her, "it’s normal for you to be afraid. But you are also a Goddess, you can do things you don't even imagine. You just have to understand it. Never make the mistake of thinking that a God is more important or essential than you are. The world would rot, and Apollo's sun would be useless, if you decided not to let plants and flowers grow anymore. It’s Apollo who serves you, not the other way around."

Persephone nodded and placed a hand on Hades’ dark one, which still lingered beside her face.

"You're right. It's time to face it."

Hades let out a proud, satisfied sigh. He broadened his smile more, and Persephone felt like she was being praised by the universe itself.

"Not even the River Styx knows how much strength I feel in you, divine Persephone. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hi!  
We're halfway through this fanfiction, and I just wanted to thank you all for your comments and kudos! Let me know if you're liking it, I really have an addiction for reviews hahahaha xD Next chapter will be HOT, so brace yourself! xD
> 
> NOTE 1: the dark skin/long hair form of Hades is the one he partially showed during the "confrontation" with the green paparazzo around episode 49. There is a better hint to his "true form" on Rachel's patreon, that's the one I took inspiration from.  
NOTE 2: Phoebus is one of the many epithets of Apollo, referring to his function of "bringer of light".


	4. The Kunée

"Wow. I don't know how, but it's even colder than the rest of the house."

This was Persephone's comment when she first set foot in Hades’ room. It was huge and so sparsely furnished that it seemed an imitation of the sidereal void. The walls were painted in dark blue, a shade both threatening and quiet. There was only the bed, huge with black sheets. For the rest, the furniture was limited to a pair of uncluttered bedside tables and a chest of drawers. There were two doors though, maybe the walk-in closet and the bathroom.

"I like it minimal." Hades announced, as if that was the explanation not only to his taste in furnishing, but also to his behavior.

Persephone walked in, almost tiptoeing, because there was such a silence she feared to awaken some hellish creature living in there. She poked around a bit, looked out of the single large window in front of the bed.

Seeing the immensity of Erebus from those windows always gave her a feeling of helplessness: she felt small, and wondered what mysteries the universe was hiding, mysteries not even the gods could access.

"I wonder where Apollo is..." she let out, exasperated.

Hades’ approached her, without touching her, without going past the five-centimeter bubble which he seemed to have built around Persephone, after the revelation of a couple of weeks before.

"He’ll come back." He simply reassured her. It was incredible how much he could be pragmatic, outspoken and synthetic.

"If he doesn't come back, he’ll get away with it, that coward. We should go look for him."

"A god in exile isn’t a god, and he knows it. He’ll come back."

Persephone was happy to hear him so convinced. He had such a calm way of dealing with the situation... she thought he would’ve been much more infuriated. And probably inside he was, and maybe he would even prove it as soon as he had Apollo in his hands. But he was also a god who could wait. The Inexorable One because death is inexorable, for him haste was a meaningless concept. He would rather sit by the river and wait, because he was _certain _that the body of his enemy would float by.

Persephone wasn’t like that. She was more active, impatient, she had to keep moving. But perhaps age didn’t play in her favor: if Hades could boast of the patience that only millennia can give, she had not yet had time to tire. She told him:

"I envy your _nonchalance. _Sometimes I feel like I’m just a rebellious girl at your eyes."

"You are the Spring. You’ll be rebellious even in a thousand years."

Persephone chuckled. He had said it in a serious way for the truth, which couldn’t indicate whether it was a mockery, a compliment, or just a fact.

"So have you always been so cold and calculated?"

And finally, the shadow of a pale smile on his lips.

"Less than you think." He replied, enigmatic, and added nothing else. 

Persephone didn’t want to indulge his mysterious attitude, and started looking around again. There wasn’t much else to notice that she hadn't already analyzed just entering, except for one thing: the only ornament in the room. It was alone on the surface of the chest: a helmet. A helmet of the mortal world style, and seemed to be very ancient. Dark bronze color, decorated with a black plume.

"Uh, what's that?"

Persephone approached the dresser and bent over to analyze it. She dared not touch it, but from so close she clearly saw the decorative relief. It depicted the Titanomachy.

"That is the _kunée_. A gift from the Cyclops: to Zeus the lightning, to Poseidon the trident, to me invisibility. Without this helmet, Cronus would have devoured us all."

Persephone's eyes widened. She stared at Hades, who had joined her and was standing straight a step away from her, behaving like a museum guide.

"Oh gods, I didn't believe it was that ancient. Do you mean that if I put it on I become invisible?"

"Try."

"W... what? Can I?"

"It's a battle helmet, I don't think your hair can ruin it."

This time, finally, Hades giggled watching Persefone's unbridled but cautious curiosity.

She tried to put both hands close to the helmet to lift it, but stopped, as if she weren’t entirely sure she could afford to touch such a relic. Hades, then, realizing her reluctance, reached out and took it first in his hands. He offered it encouragingly.

Persephone, irrepressible, finally decided to grab it. At first she was surprised at the weight. Then she turned it over, raised it over her head, pulled back the long black plume, and slipped it on. It was too big for her head.

She was feeling nothing different, so much so that she thought she had been mocked. She tried to look at her feet, but she saw them perfectly.

"Hades, can you see me?"

"No."

He smiled but didn't seem to lie. Persephone, then, walked around the room a little, being careful not to make noise, to test what he said. But he followed her with his eyes.

"Hey! You said you couldn't see me!"

He laughed, so much so that he had to remove a hand from his trouser pocket, covering his lips.

"Yes, but... you're leaving a trail of petals."

Persephone looked behind her and saw that it was true: she had lost pink petals all over the room, on a precise track of her wandering.

"Oh, sorry. I'm a disaster."

But he smiled again and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say he didn't care.

"It's not a problem, Kore. I have seven dogs, I'm not new to exuberant creatures leaving organic material around" he joked at last, which made the young goddess laugh out loud.

Persephone raised the challenge again:

"Well, if you can track me so easily, come and catch me!"

She didn't even finish saying it, and she quickly tickled his side. Hades laughed, twisted and tried to escape. He looked younger when he laughed, Persephone liked to see him a little more carefree. Then she got up, turned around and teased him again at the other side, making him twist for the second time.

"Kore, that's enough!"

"You can't play as authoritarian as you'd like while you laugh, my king."

"Stop it, or I swear I’ll never give you pomegranates again."

Persephone took it personally: she loved those pomegranates.

"_You_ _compared me to a dog_! Better not tell you how much your scoundrelpercentage is!"

She pushed him a little and made him fall on the bed. Well, maybe he had let himself fall, but Persephone wanted to believe she had shown a minimum of physical strength.

She also dived on the bed, beside him, and continued to tickle his belly. She did it first because she knew he wouldn’t have: an anguished fear of physical contact had arisen in him since she had confessed what had happened with Apollo, and Persephone was convinced to eradicate it. Because it didn't make sense... everything had always been very natural with him, and she didn't want Apollo to change things between them. It had been so long now since that horrid night. She absolutely didn’t want Apollo to still have repercussions on her life. _Enough_. _It was her time to decide now._

Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped: Hades managed to stretch his arms and take off her helmet. He held it up for a moment, smiling, sincere now, as if he had just witnessed a mystical vision. Persephone stopped too, realizing she had reappeared in his eyes.

"Here you are..." He murmured, almost dreamily, as if it had hurt him not to see her, even for a few moments.

Stillness reigned, but only for a second. Because immediately Persephone, determined to re-establish contacts, to resume from where they had interrupted days before, she took courage and kissed him, fast, playful yet serious at the same time.

His smile died immediately. He approached her face, kissed her back. But this time more cautious than when it happened in the pool. Persephone felt him place the _kunée _beside them, and then resume the kiss with more vigor and more attention than before. When he pulled away, he held her face in his hands. He looked directly into her eyes and was serious, slow, calm, but somehow disappointed, as if he were convinced he couldn’t afford it, a bit like before Persephone had been reluctant to touch the helmet.

But the goddess did not want him to get sad or frightened, because yes, he had learned that even the god of the dead could feel sadness and fear. Then she ran her fingers over the collar of his shirt, over his shoulders, and then over the buttons. She opened two of them, to feel the smooth skin under her fingers, starting to see the blue scars.

"Kore..." he heard him sigh, almost in pain.

"What's wrong?" She asked sincerely, contrite, because she knew what the matter was but wanted to hear it from his mouth. She urged him to speak, gently stroking his jaw, reassuring him.

"It’s not necessary."

"_Necessary_? Such a horrible adjective to describe love."

"I'm serious. You don't have to do it, it's not... necessary."

Persephone chuckled, realizing he could only use that single redundant term.

"You sound like a broken record, your majesty. You just can't be less cold for a moment, can you?"

"Don't challenge me, Kore, I know how to be fiery in bed" he smiled, then returned immediately serious, "but really, there's no hurry. I can wait."

Persephone shook her head, pursed her lips and sighed. Because she had understood him by now. Maybe not everything was clear about him, but she knew him, perhaps she had always known him, as life and death have always known each other.

"Oh, I know you can wait. You’re the god of the dead, you could wait thousands of years. I know and appreciate it. But I'm not the god of the dead, am I? I am a goddess of fertility, you said it, you actually have been very persistent on the matter."

She said it in an allusive and innocent way, because that’s how Persephone was: a concentration of contradictions. As the same Hades. In this respect they were very similar, albeit specular.

"I hate always being right."

Persephone grinned and undid another button. While he looked down, almost frightened and certainly hesitant, Persephone's head blossomed into many flowers with white and red corolla. She sneaked with her hands under his shirt, to meet the skin directly.

"Don't you desire me, my king?"

"Desiring a fertility goddess isn’t a choice."

Hades was like that, he never gave direct answers. He was always clear and ineluctable, but he never just said yes or no. Persephone didn’t hide a hint of despair, because he was always too elusive. He had to realize it because, for her sake, he rectified:

"Of course I desire you" and, finally, he let go of an affectionate gesture, touching her shoulder, "but I’d feel like a monster if you later had to regret it."

And instead it was quite the opposite, because Persephone _knew _she wouldn’t regret it. It was all different from that time with Apollo: her companion, and the atmosphere, and herself. She had feelings opposite to those that had driven her to a false consent that damned evening. Precisely because she wanted to erase the memory of that regret, now she wanted to try something authentic. Something positive with which to overwrite that bad experience. Something that this time was _really _chosen by her.

So she didn’t remove her hands from under his shirt, indeed, she continued in her seduction. And, for the first time, it occurred to her that perhaps Hades was right: there was _power _in her. Perhaps not a physical strength, but there was, and she had to rediscover it.

"A while ago I won a favor, my king" she reminded him, "you said I could ask what I wanted, when I wanted. And then I want to exploit it now."

Hades’ blood-colored eyes flashed for a second, allusive, and perhaps partly proud of her, who was clearly winning the game again.

"The favor is this: stop comparing yourself with Apollo. You have no idea how that night went. It was all different, the two of us had just met. I didn't go to his room, he came into mine, uninvited. You don't even come in to leave me a note on the bedside table."

At that point, finally, the first truly _sincere _smile that Hades made from the Sunday of revelation. Almost embarrassed.

"You’re not Apollo" Persephone said, "and I can tell the difference, I’m mature enough to decide by myself."

"I never meant to say that you weren't mature enough to..."

"_Sh_. Let me finish. I know what you wanted to say and didn't want to say, listen to me now. I just want... _to live again. _And I know I want you by my side."

Somehow, those words must have made sense to his ears, because he remained silent, speechless. He gave her a last look, contrite but full of desire. Then, slowly, he immediately began to kiss her again: he pressed his thin lips to hers, made space with his tongue, and again it was a deep, frenetic, vigorous union. _Inexorable._

Persephone moved closer, until she pressed her whole body against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to his white hair. And she was _happy _again, as she always wanted to be. Everything was simple with Hades. Everything seemed to come by itself, she didn't have to strive to be someone else. It was an incredible and liberating feeling.

She felt herself being pushed down until she was lying on the bed. Hades was next to her, over her with just his face to kiss her, but he still didn't dare to do the same with the rest of his body. Another gallant gesture. Hades always was a gentleman.

"It seems I’ve successfully redeemed my favor." Persephone joked in a low murmur.

"My word is a commitment."

And it really was. The word of the king of the underworld was as good as an oath on the Styx. Because he was used to make every statement as a sentence. Which made him as reliable as he was dangerous.

He kissed her again, but without lingering too much on her lips: he paused on her cheeks, on her jaw, then on her neck. Persephone felt like being reborn.

"But we’ll take it easy" he made it clear, and again with the tone of those who have already taken a decision, "if something is wrong, we stop immediately. At no time will you feel obliged to continue only to not displease me. All right?"

"All right."

He looked at her for a moment, intensely and frowning, accusatory, meditating. It was as if he was trying to quantify how sincere and valued her consent was.

In the end, Persephone's unmoving gaze had to convince him, because he resumed kissing her, in a more lascivious way than before. Meanwhile, with one hand he touched her body, first lingering on her breasts, then on her belly, and finally on her thighs.

When he crossed the edge of the dress to touch the living skin just above the knee, Persephone gave a slight jolt. She swallowed, feeling now the weight of expectation within herself.

Hades stopped kissing her to check the expression in her face. He kept looking at her as he left her knee and sneaked under her skirt, higher up, until he touched the edge of her underwear with his fingertips.

Persephone held her breath.

"Is it okay?" Even his questions sounded like statements, almost lacking the interrogative tone.

"Yes. Please go on."

And she didn't have to repeat it. He returned to touch the lace of the linen, only on the edge. Then, slowly, calm as death itself, he moved further into the center, massaging her slowly on her womanhood.

Seeing her at ease, Hades dared more: with his thumb, always from outside the underwear, he began to draw circles and give her pleasure. Pleasure in which Persephone immediately felt like drowning.

She closed her eyes, dropped her head back, and rediscovered the pleasure of being with a man and not feeling any fear. A sense of trust that even went beyond physical pleasure and made her feel free even inside her soul.

Hades didn't say anything the whole time, not even when he moved the lace on the side to touch her directly. Persephone swallowed, devoured by the waiting, because he was too slow.

"Hades..." she dared, undecided.

"Yes?"

In a single syllable he had managed to put a tone both neutral and amused and allusive. As if he knew perfectly well what Persephone was going to ask, but wanted to pretend ignorance.

"Just a little... faster..."

"But I’m the cold god of the dead, the Inexorable One, I could wait for all eternity. I'm no god of fertility, am I? Wasn’t this your thesis?"

"Oh, you..."

He laughed softly, but didn’t try to tease her further, and satisfied her request: he moved faster and more directly, letting a finger slip between her folds.

Persephone tightened the sheets under her and stiffened, pulling her legs. But Hades, instead of continuing on that road, which seemed already traced and secure, stopped. He positioned between her legs, sliding downward, and sank his tongue into her, resuming to give her pleasure, but this time in a warmer, more intimate, almost incandescent way.

"You don’t find me cold anymore, do you?" He provoked her again, still leaning on her, only a few inches away from her flesh. Persephone could still feel his breath on the sensitive skin.

"Are you going to scold me all night?"

"No, sweetness, I’d say at least for all eternity. All the_ inexorable _eternity."

"Okay, sorry, I didn't want to make you feel old!"

"And boring, and slow, and cold."

"Now you’re just whining."

"_Inexorably _whining, yes."

Persephone laughed, but Hades, who had decided to change her mind about his slowness, didn’t give her time to give in too much to good humor: he went back to sink with his mouth, to give her pleasure. Until Persephone stiffened again, puckering her toes. Again she clung to the sheets, as if she could fall into the emptiness of Erebus at any moment.

Suddenly she arched her back, drowning in the pleasure she knew only at a theoretical level. She had never felt it, so much so that she had feared it could be a myth. Well, it wasn't. Nothing was mythical, in the eternity of that room, not even the gods.

When orgasmed, Hades continued, without giving her respite. And she screamed, both for the intensity and for the surprise connected to that intensity.

When she relaxed, her eyes were wide and her breath was short.

"Oh, gods... that was..."

Hades didn’t miss the opportunity to answer her by drawing from his poetry, halfway between courtly and sharp, between romantic and cruel:

"_Inexorably glorious_. Is this the expression you were looking for?"

Persephone felt amused, but also in some way pampered. She was feeling _inexorably _good. In every sense: not just physical but also and above all mental. She was feeling serene, and it hadn't happened to her for a long time now. She liked everything about that situation: the room, the atmosphere, the view outside the windows, and above all Hades himself, who was proving to be a much, much more ardent lover than the Sun.

Persephone, as soon as she had recovered, sat up. Hades, patient as usual, was waiting for her with a neutral, calm look.

The young goddess knew it was time to go further, if she wanted to. And she wanted. She had no doubt about it. But for that part, yes... she felt some fear, she didn't want to repeat the experience of what she had felt with Apollo. At least on a physical level. For the mental one she knew for sure she was in good hands with the king of the underworld, but nothing gave her the certainty that it wouldn’t have been a painful penetration. How couldn’t it be? She hadn’t seen Hades directly, but she could glimpse at his shapes trapped into his pants, and she was worried.

He noticed she was looking at him, and immediately his impertinence of just before disappeared.

"Kore? You’re not obliged to repay."

"But I want to."

"And I believe you. But it’s not…"

"_Necessary _?"

Hades narrowed his eyes to two slits, Persephone hid a giggle.

"It’s not _influential _on my sense of fulfillment."

"You speak so well today."

"And you put my _inexorable _patience to the test today. I wonder if it’ll always be so."

"For all eternity."

Persephone accompanied that last remark with a wink and at that point her nervousness left her. It was so easy... so easy to remember who she was with, and how much being there with him was the right choice.

He joined her, and they were both on their knees on the mattress. Persephone hugged him, sighing. She kissed him first, and felt that her crown of flowers was blossoming more than ever. Around them, petals were scattering everywhere, and there was smell of pomegranate and narcissus.

Hades ran his fingers through her short hair, and a few more petals fell on the bed. He cuddled the short locks, where he himself had passed the scissors a few days before, to free her from the excessive length and weight. Meanwhile, Persephone resumed the work left uncompleted with his shirt: she undid the last buttons and slipped it off his belt first, then his shoulders. Hades remained bare-chested and again the scars were the protagonists of the main room, in all their ancient and forgotten gravity. Like the first time she had seen them, Persephone almost felt pain herself.

"Λυπάμαι, Aϊδωνεύς."

Hades, astonished to have heard her talk like that, looked at her for a moment. He shook his head, melancholic.

"Don’t worry."

Supplicant, he asked her to let go of the scars, not to give them the importance they no longer had. His father Kronos, who had inflicted them with such _inexorability_, didn’t deserve to enter that room.

Persephone resumed caressing his skin, but more lightly, as if he were made of glass. Hades smiled at her concern, but didn’t hide the fact that it pleased him.

Hades himself took care of the lower part of the clothes: he moved away her hands and wanted to proceed by himself. Persephone had the feeling that it was to remove her from embarrassment and, once again, she appreciated it. She watched him undo his black leather belt, open the buttons, and finally lower his pants and underwear all together.

Persephone was astonished, even though she knew she shouldn't have. Hades was a god, and not just _a_ god, but one of the five majors, one of the three kings. He was beautiful, as were all the children of Kronos, and he was well-endowed, as was proper for his divine heritage. He was perfect. And Persephone, who didn’t feel perfect at all, felt tinier than ever. She who wasn’t the daughter of Titans, she who was the result of a now-bastardized third generation, she who was much more like a mortal with her freckles, wide hips and limited height. Persephone, more than ever aware of all her flaws, even wondered if it was physically _possible _tolie with the king.

She collapsed, kneeling on her heels, and had to look up to reach Hades' face. He had never seemed as immense as that time.

"Your... size is... considerable."

He jumped at the problem and, with the patience that always distinguished him, did not feed that fear. He replied with pragmatic seriousness:

"And you’re a goddess, no less than a son of Kronos. You shouldn't be afraid. Stand up straight."

Telling her this, he brought two fingers under her chin to pull her up. Persephone followed his movement and straightened her back, raising her head. Now Hades’ expression was satisfied, he was proud of her. It was rare that he let himself praise or compliment someone.

"Don't worry, Kore" he softened his tone, became less rigorous, and then spoke only in a whisper, "if you want to try, I won't hurt you. I swear on the river Styx."

Persephone believed him, and not because of the oath on the Styx, however binding. She believed him because she trusted him. He had never given her a reason not to trust him.

So she became convinced, and boldly lowered her hand and touched his erection. She was both intimidated and fascinated, also because in the only time she had been with a man, that one forced time, she hadn’t been allowed to explore the body of her partner. Actually, she hadn’t even seen Apollo very well. And now Hades was there in front of her, on his knees, allowing her to make the first move. It was a luxury that she had never been allowed to until then.

She felt warm, as she surrounded him with her fingers and began to move, curious but still a little unsure.

"Is it okay like that?"

His eyes were closed and he answered only with a throaty sigh, an affirmative moan with tight lips. Hades was one who certainly didn’t like to waste words, especially when he felt they sounded obvious. Persephone knew it and, therefore, received a silence as the sincerest of endorsements.

The young goddess continued, then, took courage in speeding up the movement. And the god of the dead, who never lost control, opened his lips, as he was about to forget where he was. As a result of that reaction, a truth was suddenly clear and fulfilling in Persephone's mind: Hades was feeling pleasure thanks to her. And for this she felt _powerful_.

The more she continued, the more he was letting go. Until he got to the point of stiffening and panting. Persephone was getting tired and had to use both hands.

It was at that moment that Hades, with a slight and always polite hand gesture, stopped her. He let out a long sigh to regain lucidity, then cuddled the side of her face, bringing the hair behind her ear.

"What do you want to do?"

Not even the slightest appearance of pressure or imposition implicit in that question. It was just a sincere request, which admitted any response in the same way.

"What do you want?"

He shook his head.

"I just want to see you happy."

He avoided saying his preference and Persephone knew that she could continue to ask for the whole eternity, but he would never have unbalanced. If he was convinced not to even give her a minimum of pressure, nothing would have moved him. But what he didn’t understand was that even Persephone wanted only to see him happy as well. The more she spent time with him, the more she felt that there wasn’t even a real choice to make. As if everything was natural, and couldn’t be otherwise.

"I want you."

She made the difference, because the great judge was so used to being above the parts that he would never have done it. But, once consent was obtained, Hades didn’t delay a second to satisfy her: he kissed her immediately. Persephone was pleased to feel desired, and if in words she didn’t always get that feeling, nothing of Hades gestures would ever have made her fear the opposite.

Now it was his time to undress her, and he did it in a more frenetic way than the gestures he had kept until then. He slipped off her white dress from above her head, unfastened her bra, and lowered to take off her slip while he lingered with a kiss on a nipple.

Persephone arched under his attentions, and now that she was naked she felt their bodies in contact. He was warm. In the icy and deadly cold of Erebus, Hades really knew how to seem alive.

Hades pushed her lying down, with such delicacy that to Persephone seemed to be touched only by the wind, by an incorporeal creature. Even when he was above her, she never once felt his weight, because Hades supported himself with his arms not to make her feel trapped.

He spread her legs slowly, without any hurry. He positioned himself between her thighs and stopped there, dedicating more time to simply kiss her, caress her, calm her down. He waited there, motionless, and they were both exclusively for each other. Finally, he sighed, closed his eyes, and kissed her forehead. From that moment on, magically, it was as if Hades had taken on the enormous responsibility of making her live a beautiful experience.

"It won’t hurt" he said one last time, lips and her forehead, "might be uncomfortable, just for the first few thrusts. But not painful, okay?"

"O... okay…"

"Just relax."

He passed a hand inside her thigh, to make her legs relax. Then he moved and rested the same hand on her belly, covering the lower part of the abdomen and the navel. Persephone looked between them, down, anxious.

"Look at me, Persephone" the goddess raised her eyes and met Hades' red irises "Breathe. Don’t think about anything. Keep your eyes on me."

And at that moment Persephone thought that Hades had some power he hadn't told her about in those eyes. Whenever she looked at them, she felt her strength disappear. But not in a negative way, she wasn’t so weak as to be blocked or subdued, on the contrary. It was more a sense of peace, like a small, light taste of death. It was the most serene feeling she had ever felt.

At that point, he waited just a few more seconds. Then, finally, slow and without haste, he pushed inside her. Persephone held her breath as he penetrated her, opened her eyelids and curled her toes.

It didn't hurt, but it didn’t even felt that good. It was like a middle ground, pleasant but unfamiliar, invasive. Still, she couldn’t get enough. She felt complete. And now she could really say that it wasn't like the first time at all, especially since the company was infinitely better. She never felt the pain Apollo had inflicted on her.

Hades drew back, without uttering the slightest sigh or moan, stoic, and then thrusted again, careful. He repeated for a couple of times, until Persephone had adapted to his presence and, as promised, she began to feel something different. The experience was much more exciting than she hoped.

Hades had to notice, because his lips, usually so hard, showed a relieved smile. So he too had been afraid. Persephone was grateful to him, immensely grateful: it mustn’t have been easy for him to take the responsibility of being the first after an abuse.

"Are you okay?" That was a question, but only on a formal level, because he had the happy tone of someone who already knows the answer.

Persephone nodded and arched more beneath him, trying to accommodate him more within herself. Hades satisfied her, and from that moment on both were more relaxed, and everything began to flow naturally, instinctively, without tension. While Hades gradually increased the pace and sank deeper into her, Persephone became audacious and let herself go more and more. She began to moan, and then almost to scream, without any shame to be heard. She wouldn’t have said she was capable until that day.

When their union became more frantic, she felt a kind of pain a couple of times, because he had gone too deep. But he had stopped immediately, excused himself, and Persephone realized that he hadn’t do it on purpose as Apollo had done. It was because of their size difference.

But they didn’t let themselves be discouraged: Hades tied his arms behind her back, pulled her towards him and turned, making her go on top. He lay with her astride and smiled encouragingly as he held her thighs and buttocks tight.

"This way you can control how deep." He explained.

Persephone, at first, felt too much in charge, but then, led by his arms which showed her how to move, she let herself go and no longer had anything to fear. Instead, she began to feel powerful, seeing him under her, surrendered.

They laughed together when petals fell from her hair and lay on Hades’ face, who had to move them and nearly sneezed. Then they went to indulge in pleasure together.

While Persephone continued to move, tirelessly, he brought a thumb between her legs, to continue to stimulate her clit during the act and help her reach the climax again. And he succeeded. In short, Persephone arched her back again and let herself be invaded, throwing her head back and shouting upwards.

When she finished, she swallowed, exhausted, and lowered her eyes again. He too was about to give up. Never the god of the dead had seemed so human, in his lost expression, in his firm muscles, one step away from his climax. At that moment, he too, who was always so silent, groaned. He dug his fingers deeper into Persephone's thighs and pushed up to sink more, insatiable.

"Are you... are you coming?"

He nodded, his eyes tightened.

"Yes, but don't... don't worry..."

But she had already slipped off. She positioned herself on her knees beside hm and resumed with her hands. It only took a few movements and even Hades orgasmed. Persephone observed his erection and seed in her hands, satisfied, proud that it was thanks to her. When he was finished, she looked at his face and found him with his eyes closed, relaxed on the pillow. With one hand he cuddled her thigh, tired, weak and happy.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked, pleased.

Persephone chuckled and went to lie down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, really. Thank you, your majesty."

He laughed too.

"It was a honor to please you, miss."

"Excuse me for the petals, my king, I made a mess."

"Don’t worry. They smell good."

In fact, as he laughed, he took one of the petals still lieing on his chest, fallen from Persephone's hair during intercourse. They were all colors and all types, but that one in particular was white: a narcissus. Hades took it close and breathed in the fragrance, happy, dreamy, as if that scent reminded him of something very ancient. Eventually, he turned to her, and with the same petal tickled the tip of her nose, snatching a little laugh from her.

It was incredible how much he knew how to be thoughtful and romantic when he wanted. Perhaps the centuries spent judging souls had finally accustomed him to almost always maintain the attitude of the judge, when actually he was one of the most sensitive gods, and perhaps even one of the shyest.

Then, suddenly, a doubt came to Persephone’s mind. She frowned.

"Did you want me to go on?" she asked point blank, "Did you want to come inside me?"

Hades smile died, as it had arrived. Again, the serious, intransigent and wise judge who he always was.

"I had to explain myself better, I’m used to it and it didn’t come to my mind. I apologize, if it has offended you."

"You didn't offend me..." she actually didn't know how to feel about it.

But immediately Hades sighed and dispelled any doubts, with a low tone of voice and a contrite expression.

"Not even a fertility goddess could hope to make something from my seed."

At the exact moment when he said it, the petal he still had in his hand withered and dried up. A second was enough. Only one second and that petal, which had been alive and was destined to remain so for eternity having been born from Persephone, no longer existed. It was just a dry skeleton. And the same fate reached all the other petals which touched the body of the god of the Underworld.

Mortified, Persephone felt numb for not having thought of it. She curled more beside him, to make him feel that she was there. Hades let go of the dead petal and gazed towards the ceiling with a sad sigh.

"Death can’t conceive life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hadn't I promised a hot chapter? Hadn't I?  
Hope it was tasty enough for your needs *wink wink*  
Let me know what you think and, as usual, thank you for reading!
> 
> NOTE 1: The greek part means "I'm sorry, Aidoneus"   
NOTE 2: I really can't remember what was the spelling Rachel used for Kronos/Cronus/Cronos, well... forgive me if it's different, I couldn't find where it was written in LO.


	5. Elysium

Persephone was surprised that Hades’ villa had a garden, but only for a moment. She had believed that there was no vegetation in the Underworld, but then the god had explained to her, imperturbable and pragmatic as usual:

"Plants die too. They have to go somewhere."

From that moment everything had taken on a new meaning. Persephone had therefore decided to enjoy that garden, to explore it, and to pretend to be at home.

While walking in the park with Hades, curious, she realized it wasn’t a normal garden, it wasn’t at all similar to anything she had ever seen on earth. It was _too varied. _There were plants of every shape and color, coming from every part of the mortal world and all gathered there, to settle for the neutral climate of the Underworld. There were therefore palms and conifers, redwoods and cherry trees, apple trees and cacti, baobabs and willows, without any distinction. Not to mention the flowers, since they went from edelweiss to aloe vera without any logic.

"Wow. It’s wonderful!"

"Do you like it?" Hades had a hint of apprehension in his voice.

"Of course I like it! It’s absurd! It's completely insane, but it's beautiful! It has nothing to do with the interior of your house. Didn't you say you liked it minimal? "

"Yes, indeed. But plants and flowers have never been easy to tame, they do what they want, even here in Erebus. Like you, Kore."

Persephone raised her chin proudly, trying to get at least an inch higher.

"You can't give rules to nature."

"I noticed. I was hoping you would like it, so you don’t feel trapped anymore."

Persephone stopped as they walked down a gravel path, one of many. She tilted her head and looked at him seriously.

"I've never felt trapped."

"You always say you're cold."

"It would be enough to turn on the heating."

She winked at him and stole an embarrassed smile from him. She knew he meant “cold” in a broad sense, emotional. But really she didn't care, she was fine there under so many other aspects.

"Okay, but if by any chance you felt a little nostalgic, the garden is here for you. It's yours."

"Are you... making me a gift?" Symbolic as it was, it was a huge gift.

"I can't give you something that is already your domain."

Persephone chuckled. She got up on her toes and hugged him. Even so, she failed to get beyond the level of his stomach, and she also struggled to surround him with her arms.

"You're funny when you try to sell your romantic gestures as facts."

Hades returned the hug and didn’t reply, feeling caught out, and then Persephone added:

"Thank you, it's a nice present, inexorable Aidoneus."

He scrutinized her with one of his eyebrows arched.

"Don’t call me that."

"How? Inexorable or Aidoneus?"

"The first one."

"I thought you liked it, since you chose it."

At that point, Hades was truly shocked. He raised his hands, justifying himself, and shook his head in a gesture of utter disapproval.

"I didn't choose it! They gave it to me!"

"Hm, are you sure? It sounds like the typical name someone chooses on their own" Persefone teased, bringing the tip of her forefinger to her lips in a fake meditative frown, "I bet it's your online nickname. Something like _Inexorabylys69. _The final 69 is a classy touch that no _overmillennial _would miss."

"I'll show you the sixty-nine later."

Hades had his own way of responding to provocations, but Persephone wasn’t intimidated.

"Not to mention all the other names you have, my King. And you’re so bold to make fun of me for Kore?" she began to list them, one by one, "Aidoneus, Aides, Aidi, Aidos... I particularly love this one, it sounds like a sport shoes brand. And then again Ais, Aida... one could wonder if you really know how to spell your name. And all the epithets: Invisible, Unseen, Cronis, Agesilaos, Pluto, and then the most unpronounceable, Ketachthonios. And the list would continue, but I lost interest."

But not even Hades was intimidated, and he always remained with his usual half smile, impossible to move or annoy.

"Did you look at the name on the _driving license_?"

"No, Wikipedia."

Hades shook his head, looked away with his hands in his pockets, as he always did when he disapproved of something. Persephone could almost read his mind as he complained about the younger generations, remembering how in his day there was no internet and they used to study on wax tablets. He took care not to say anything about it, though, and the goddess knew it was not to look like the boring old man.

"By the way, on the driving license there are all of them."

"You must have had it printed on a bed sheet, then."

"It is envy to talk. The envy of a goddess who isn’t old enough to have neither epithets nor a license."

And here he had turned the argument in his favor, as always. From that point of view he wasn’t the one too old, she was the one too young.

Persephone narrowed her eyes, scolding him jokingly.

"A gentleman shouldn’t question the age of a woman."

"From what I remember, it was valid only for old age."

Before Persephone could reply for the umpteenth time, however, the card of the gallantry was played: he spread a dazzling smile and offered her the arm, to accompany her. She, giving him a look that meant _"in any case you don't deserve it", _clung to his elbow and buried the hatchet.

Together they resumed walking. They passed beside a group of dwarf pine bushes and saw Ascalaphus, the gardener, struggling with the pruning of some trees.

Pomegranates.

"Oh, is that where your stock comes from?" Asked the young goddess, ecstatic.

Hades spread a smile.

"Hellish fruits, don't you agree?"

They left the driveway and entered the vegetative chaos. Persephone had bare legs due to the short dress, and at first Hades acted as he wanted to get in front of her, to open the way. Immediately, however, he noticed that the plants favored their protector by moving to her passage. Then it was Hades who stayed behind, silent but with a proud smile.

Arriving at the tree, Hades asked Ascalaphus to pass them a pomegranate, and the gardener obeyed: he stretched the most mature fruit directly to Persephone and she, happy, began to open it. She took out a few grains and carried them happily in his mouth.

"Thank you very much, Hades, for everything. It's a beautiful place. It’s just… maybe it could be better with animals."

"We can bring them, if you want. There are so many shadows of animals that can’t wait to leave the Styx beach. Which species would you like?"

"All of them."

Hades laughed and put a hand on her shoulder, amused and mortified at the same time.

"They’re still animals, Kore, they’ll always behave as such. So no wolves, tigers, and anything like that. May we settle for... a nice deer?"

At the very moment he said it, the shadow of a hopping deer appeared. It was gray, semi-transparent, with vacant eyes. It was the distant memory of a living deer.

The animal carefully avoided approaching the king of the Underworld, but on the other hand was instinctively attracted by Persephone: it approached her, sniffed her with a cold and ethereal face, and let itself be petted. The goddess hugged its neck and sighed. She clearly saw the wound that had killed it, on its shoulder, the round hole of a dart. She could feel the fear with which it had left the world of the living, but she also could feel consolation pervading it, as she embraced it.

"I know it's not like the world above" Hades apologized, with tight lips and a mortified look, "everything is much melancholier here."

"Well, this means I found the place where I’m really needed."

Persephone smiled encouragingly and saw that Hades was also cheering up. And, for the first time in her life, she felt really useful. Perhaps that was her place, her destiny. Perhaps she had never been the “spring”_. _She was the “afterlife spring”, optimism in adversity. For that, in fact, there was no protector god, it wasn’t a role that someone had already claimed. It was hers. It was Persephone’s. And maybe she was also gaining new names.

Just as she was about to speak, to say something, to inform Hades of how paradoxically she felt at ease surrounded by all that life in death, something interrupted the idyll: from afar a deep, angry, infernal bark.

The barking of Cerberus.

The deer opened its eyes and fled. Persephone, surprised, remained motionless. Hades hugged her and held her close, and she instinctively let him do it. Something was wrong.

"What... what's going on?"

"An intruder. Come on, let's go back inside."

"Who? Who is it?"

Hades didn't answer right away, perhaps because he didn't know for sure either. But he began to lead her fast towards the villa, embracing her shoulders and not allowing her to stay behind.

"I told you he would come back." Was his only lapidary comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
A shorter chapter than usual. But the next one is also the last one, and finally we'll see Persephone vs Apollo!  
So, see you soon, and as usual thank you for reading!


	6. The power of knowledge

Persephone was in the large waiting room adjacent to the courtroom. She was alone, tense, biting her fingernails. She put her hands on her head to check that her hair was still short. It was.

She sighed, trying to calm down. She looked around and tried to concentrate on the marble of the columns, some black obsidian and some white alabaster. She pulled the veil of the traditional peplum over her head and sighed again, anxious.

Just then, Hades entered from the door on the other side of the hall. He too was dressed in traditional chiton and sandals, as was common during the court hearings, or at least those of public interest. He had the bident in his hand and the pace of a king. As he approached, Persephone saw that his white hair was long, smooth and decorated with laurel. His eyes were black, as she had seen them on the day of revelation.

Instinctively, Persephone stepped back, intimidated, wondering if he was angry, if it was possible to talk to him. But as soon as she saw that he was pointing at her and spreading a smile, the goddess realized that he was calm as usual. Angry, but only inside. Outside he was the usual staid judge.

He came to her and placed both hands on her shoulders, without saying anything at first. He exaggerated a sigh, implicitly suggesting her to imitate him, to calm down. And then they inhaled together and Persephone felt a little better.

"Nervous?" He asked, in the most soothing tone Persephone had ever heard.

"Yes, a little." she admitted, lowering her eyes.

"Don't be. There’s no acquittal for those who _know _theyare guilty."

"Does he know?"

Persephone wasn’t so sure, to tell the truth. Apollo, after the fact, had always behaved like her partner, the fiancé he wasn’t but pretended to be. Equally reprehensible, of course, but Persephone had the feeling that Apollo really believed he was right. And she was afraid she would end up believing it too.

But as usual, and perhaps even more so in emergency situations, Hades was neutral, calm, inexorable. And then he simply sold her his certainties as factual data:

"Apollo is many negative things, but he’s certainly no fool. He’s not a drunken Dionysus or a Priapus blinded by lust. He has always known how to present himself as a reasoning God. Good for him. But being recognized as intelligent brings responsibility as well as respect, and now he’ll have to deal with a blade which is sharp on both sides. He won’t be able to bring some excuses into the argument. He can’t tell he didn’t know what he was doing because of his pride and reputation. "

"If he has put himself in such a trap, then why is he back?"

"For the same reason. Pride and reputation."

He explained nothing else and had the attitude of those who believe the conversation has ended. Because Hades was like that: when he was exposing what he believed was the most objective truth, it had to be so for everyone else. Somehow, Persephone found it reassuring.

"I hope you're right."

"Has it ever happened that I wasn’t?"

"Now don't push it too hard."

He smiled and, instead of answering, lowered himself to give her a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips, more like a friend than a lover. When he straightened up, he fiddled with the crown of flowers on Persephone's head, and made her giggle.

"The pride of the gods is boundless, Kore, especially if they are Olimpians" he explained, with a sigh, "I'm proud too, we all are. You’re the only one immune, it seems, you’re so young."

And at that moment Persephone had the feeling he was making her a personal compliment, because maybe that was one of the reasons he fell in love.

"But now you take pride that you didn't want to impose and throw it all over him, okay? You're right. Don't let anyone think otherwise. "

And that, instead, sounded like a sincere advice. He was telling her not to look weak in the courtroom, she was sure of it.

"I’ll do my best."

"You’ll be perfect." Even this, more than a compliment, sounded as a fact.

Persephone smiled, turned to the large door that led to the courtroom and opened it, just a crack. She peered out and saw that it was crowded: all the Olympians were there, and above all there was Demeter.

"Oh, gods, there's my mother."

Hades didn't bother checking.

"Demeter is also a lot of negative things from my point of view, but she's no bad mother" he replied, cruelly sincere, behind her, "She's here just to protect you, Kore. Don’t be ashamed."

Persephone turned and nodded, if possible even more agitated than before.

"Now let's go" ordered Hades, quiet, ruthlessly "don't go to the dock, come on the throne with me."

Persephone suddenly felt her legs tremble. Her eyes widened, she shook her head. Some petals fell from her hair, less colorful and lively than usual.

"That is your place, not mine."

"And this is your trial, not mine."

And saying so he walked past her, forcing her to open the door. From that moment, absolute silence spread through the courtroom, and it was time to start.

They walked in, their footsteps echoing in the room, and Persephone who felt everyone's eyes on her: her mother’s, Hestia’s, Artemis’, but above all the eyes of Apollo. He was standing with arrogant look and wrists chained to the dock, right in front of Hades’ throne. His golden eyes were following Persephone step by step, and she felt so uncomfortable that she pulled the veil over her head a little more. Hades had to notice, because he slowed down, enough to put himself between her and Apollo's gaze.

They climbed the stairs that led to the throne. When they reached the top, Persephone turned, and the view from there was even more intimidating than from the bottom. She could see everything and everyone from there, and everyone could see her. She didn't know how Hades could do it every day, really.

Hades didn't sit down right away. He stopped first and, with the hand which was holding the bident, made a vague, almost uninterested gesture, as if for him it was all ordinary. Suddenly, another throne appeared next to his. Not black, but white. Similar to the original, yet opposite.

Persephone rolled her eyes and felt her heart fall to the stomach. And judging by the generalized sigh of astonishment, she wasn’t the only one to have interpreted that gesture as incredibly unexpected.

She was about to say something, refuse to sit even, because she wasn’t worthy of such a great honor and she wasn’t understanding why he did it for her. If she didn't say anything, it was only because she didn't want to do it in front of the audience, but inside she felt himself dying of fear and a sense of inadequacy.

But there was a power that Hades had: that of his eyes. In the same instant in which he turned, in fact, and looked directly into hers, the goddess immediately felt better. He stared at her for a few seconds, saying nothing, and Persephone returned. That little time was enough to make all anxiety flow from the stomach, the lungs, the wrists and the heart. Because the eyes of Hades were like Erebus, indeed, they _were _Erebus. Quiet and peaceful as only the eternal sleep of death can be.

"Do you still doubt this throne is for you?"

He said it only in a whisper, so as not to be heard by anyone else. And Persephone, convinced, could do nothing but nod. Hades hadn't changed her mind, but had shown her the truth from his point of view. He had made her taste for a moment what it was like to live in his world of unchanging certainties. Persephone was no longer afraid because somehow she _knew _that the throne was hers, it was destined for her, and she _knew _shewas the only one who could sit there. Perhaps she couldn’t yet understand it rationally, but she had seen it. That's why Hades was always so calm, and confident in his leading role, and immovable about his convictions: because he could see beyond, he could see everything. He knew how to calm souls with the power of truth. He didn't need to argue to prove a thesis, he didn't need to torture an enemy to get a confession: the whole truth of the universe was already in his eyes, and nothing could be different from what he saw.

For better or for worse.

With this lost and yet certain spirit Persephone finally sat on the throne, terrified by the strength of the revelation just received. She quickly recomposed herself, however, and forced herself to sit properly, to demonstrate to all the others that that throne was hers and they had to accept it.

Hades sat down too, as a good gentleman only after he had made sure she was comfortable. He waited a few more long seconds, as if he wanted that the whole room to get used to his imperturbable calm, including the defendant. Finally, he turned and nodded to the three judges, for the occasion in plenary session: Minos, Aeacus and Radamanthus. From that moment, the hearing could begin.

Hades stared at Apollo. He smiled.

"Such an honor" he began, with sarcastic tone, "Such an honor to have a god of light here, and behind him the whole Olympus, all gathered in this kingdom of darkness."

Apollo sighed, his chest grew, but he said nothing.

"All this crowd" Hades continued, "does nothing but remind us of how important the case we are about to discuss is. Although, _my friend_, you’re not a mortal, and your choice to be judged by this court is at least audacious. Am I wrong?"

Then Apollo swallowed, and Persephone clearly saw all that pride Hades had talked about accumulating in his yellow eyes. He pulled back his plum-colored hair with a jerk of his head, and smiled sassy.

"I came here on purpose, Hades."

"Bad choice, you should’ve gone to my brother's jurisdiction."

Apollo continued undisturbed:

"I came here on purpose, on my own free will, to show my good faith. I am putting myself in your hands because I know that running away, although you are all very resentful against me, it would do nothing but fuel your misperception that _I _did something wrong."

A whisper spread among the crowd. Persephone cast a glance towards whom she knew best, and found Hera, who smiled at her encouragingly but evidently worried. Behind her, Demeter, petrified.

"I have to assume that you’re going to plead innocent, aren’t you?" Asked Hades, sarcastically.

"Certainly. I just... loved this woman. Deeply."

"Yes" Persephone intervened, furious, her eyes reduced to two red slits, "so much to threaten me with those photos, right?"

The crowd whispered again and Aeacus had to silence again. Apollo shrugged and spread an arrogant smile. He tried to minimize:

"Persie, I had no choice!"

"Don't call me Persie."

"It wasn’t my intention to _threaten _you, I just wanted... to make you think."

Persephone had now a questioning expression, wondering what Apollo would say. The crowd was in suspense and Hades was watching her, only her, curious and worried at the same time.

"I wanted you to think, Persie, about it being a mistake, and I was ready to admit it. I love you so much" Persephone almost felt the urge to vomit," I love you so much, but look at you... you always around me and this... King of the Underworld... I asked you to stop to protect your position for the eternal maidenhood. But you didn't want to listen to me, and so... I had to take the drastic solution. But I'm sure it was for good, now Hestia and Demeter will forgive you."

Persephone straightened her back, tried to breathe and didn't make it. She clenched her fists on the stone throne, swallowed, and felt her head spin. She wanted to vomit, now, for real. She wasn't sure she could hold it back.

She felt Hade's hand on hers, and saw him reach out to her and speak to her ear.

"Would you like to go out?"

"No."

He didn’t insist, because Persephone's tone was that of someone who didn’t admit replies.

"He’s confessing a minor crime, that of the photos, to divert attention from rape. Don't let him intimidate you. He knows what he did. _I know he knows_."

And Persephone knew that Hades knew it. She wanted to _know _thattoo. She wanted to turn around for a moment, take a look at his eyes, and accumulate a little more confidence. But Hades, _inexorable _with everyone, had looked away and was now staring ahead. Persephone had the feeling that he had done it on purpose to prevent her from finding comfort.

"Certainty is addictive, Kore. You can do it."

Persephone nodded, in pain but agreeing. She could do it by herself. She had to.

She sighed and returned her eyes to Apollo, who had waited with that fake and charming smile of his. She spoke aloud to be heard by the audience.

"The violation of voluntary chastity isn’t a crime, Apollo. Rape is."

Calling that violence with the correct name gave her a shudder at first , and then a growing sense of strength within herself. _Rape. _It had been a rape, she knew it now. She had to stop him from making her or anyone else think otherwise.

"Persie, you told me yes..."

"DON'T CALL ME PERSIE!"

She jumped up, shouting, and suddenly a roar shook the bowels of the earth, spreading a tremor beneath their feet and above the columns, dull and terrifying. On the throne, climbing plants had begun to peep out of the bare rock.

"Don't call me Persie, I told you. Can you at least respect a name, if not the sexual consent?"

"You gave me your cons..."

"Shut up! Shut up! Now it’s _my_ time to speak, Apollo. You've got yours, I'd say even _too much _in front of the cameras. Very good, but now it's my turn. That night we were almost strangers, we had known each other a few hours before, how do you explain this? How do you explain that I had already gone to sleep and _I was indeed sleeping, _and you thought it was okay to enter my room without even knocking? Does it seem _normal _toyou to enter a virgin girl's room at night? And how could you think that any consent I could give was thought and evaluated? Does it seem normal to you that I was crying in those photos?"

Apollo looked down. His smirk didn't fade, and now an eyebrow rose in a skeptical and sarcastic expression.

"I can't read minds, Persie, unfortunately this is not my power. I cling to what is said to me, and you said yes. If _after _you've repented, I’m very sorry. But we both wanted it."

"I told you yes because you had already pushed me onto the bed and you were already undressing. I told you yes because having the illusion that it was something I wanted too was better than believing I was a helpless victim of a lousy bastard such as yourself."

There was a general lament in the hall, people started to look at each other, someone got up, unsettled. Persephone, who for the first time in her life was feeling like she had the situation, the _whole _situation in the palm of her hand, looked up at the exit. There were nymphs going out, quickly.

"Look" she insinuated, hissing through her teeth, pampering a cruelty that she didn't even believe she could feel, "Look, Apollo, how many girls are running away from this room. I’m not the first one who _said yes_, am I?"

And, just as Persephone said those words, one of the nymph that was running away stopped. The goddess looked at her, and she looked back at Persephone. A tension-filled stillness was palpable.

Persephone understood that the girl, a naiad, wanted to say something. She shrugged her shoulders, unsure. She looked toward the exit, eager to escape, but she didn't.

"Hey, water nymph" Hades himself called her, because he knew she wouldn't disobey him, "do you have something to say? We are here to listen to you, don’t be scared. "

The naiad swallowed, and almost seemed to melt in many river rapids. But she didn't, she remained intact, and nodded. When she managed to speak, everyone hung on her every word.

"There is a laurel tree near the Peneus river..."

Just hearing those words, Apollo lowered his eyes, shook his head, and put a hand on his forehead. Persephone liked it.

"It’s the most beautiful laurel tree you can ever see" said the naiad in tears, which merged with the diaphanous skin, "she was my friend, Daphne. She asked Mother Earth to be transformed, in order to escape from Apollo. Gaea and Eros know it."

She said nothing more: as the scandal spread in the hall, she fled and closed the door behind her, to never come back.

But the seed was planted now. People looked at each other scandalized. Hera was nodding, looking angry and exhausted. Demeter was in tears. Hestia, motionless, looked at her feet with the composed femininity she was always endowed with, even when she was so upset. And finally, Artemis. The twin of Apollo, who now was staring at him with the same look she used during the wolf hunt. A look that left no room for the slightest possibility of redemption.

"All this... is just a misunderstanding, Daphne... I didn't want her to turn into a plant of course, I was just..."

But there was nothing he could say that could repair the seed of doubt that was now spreading among all the audience. And Apollo too knew that worse than guilt, worse than evidence, worse than punishment, there was blame from the major gods.

Persephone sighed, sat down again. She was stunned.

She waited a moment to catch her breath, then realized that Hades was looking at her.

"Now _you know_. And _they_ _know _too."

He didn't say anything else, didn't even smile. But Persephone didn’t need smiles, because she _knew _that his was the most complete admiration. And she admired herself as well. She was happy to be able to stand there in front of everyone with her head high. And it felt good not so much because she had won, she didn't even care anymore about the final verdict, to tell the truth. It felt good because she had seen the truth in the face, and had enough courage to embrace it.

She raised her chin, sat up straight, while Aeacus made everyone calm down for the umpteenth time.

Those present sat down on the benches, Apollo remained at the witness dock, resting on the wooden curb with his head down.

Hades finally intervened with all the tranquility he was capable of, with such a studied slowness that Persephone had the feeling it was made up to hurt the defendant.

"Apollo, speak honestly. Do we really need to call Gaea and Eros to testify?"

The pride of the gods is boundless and equaled only by the brutal honesty of the most upstanding Olympians, so it was obvious that Gaea and Eros could only confirm the words of the naiad, perhaps even aggravate them. Apollo knew this very well.

He denied with his head, in silence.

"That’s what I thought."

Hades then turned to the three judges and asked for the verdict. He hadn’t to wait for long: three for Apollo’s guilt. The crowd was so shocked from the naiad confession that the judgement didn't surprise at all. Not even the defendant himself.

"Apollo, God of the arts, music, Phoebus conductor of the Sun, you are found guilty. Persephone will decide your punishment."

Well, that instead was unexpected even for Persephone, who remained dumbfounded. But only for a moment, only to meet a nod of Hades that spurred her on, and assured her that he had been serious.

And at that moment Persephone felt at peace. She felt calm, maybe even _inexorable, _as Hades always was. And she realized that it was the truth to make her feel so. _Knowledge brings stillness_.

She stood up, heaved a deep sigh, and didn’t feel need for revenge at all.

"Apollo, you are an important god, no one here can deny it. If I condemned you to any punishment that prevented you from working, mortals would suffer. I don't want this" Apollo looked up, hopeful, incredulous, and Persephone resumed, "I think a nine-year expulsion from the Symposiums is sufficient, as if it were a violation of an oath on the Styx. There is nothing more."

The audience eyes were incredulous. Apollo was giving her a strange and perhaps grateful look. Then Hades got up first, walked past her, held out his hand. Together, they walked out, and Persephone began to feel the adrenaline flowing down her limbs to the marble floor and leaving her without strength. But happy. Free as she hadn’t been for a long time.

Now that they were alone, Hades himself was more emotional, and smiled without restraint. For the first time, he hugged her first, tacitly complimenting. Persephone plunged her face into his shoulder, in the folds of the chiton, with a smile on her face.

"A well-balanced sentence, good" complimented the God of the Underworld, the Judge of Judges, "I expected nothing less from you. As I said, power is pink."

Persephone moved away and looked into his eyes. For the first time, she saw no certainty, because she didn’t need it anymore.

"Yes, you said it. You _knew it_."

"The important thing is that now you know it too. And now _I_ _know _you would make a great Queen of the Underworld, Persephone. "

As he said it, he touched the hand she was holding on his other shoulder. He did nothing else, only touched her. Persephone moved away, craned her neck with a frown, and when she looked at her hand she saw that there was a diamond on her ring finger.

She smiled, incredulous. A diamond... for Hades, god of wealth, that was just a grain of dust. But had the shape of a flower, and thus it had a completely different meaning, a different value.

Now, he was looking gloomy.

"I also know it's a lot to ask. There are less demanding relationships, I realize it. And in my heart I really have no idea why you should choose such a responsibility, but ... _I know _I will never want anyone else on the throne with me, regardless of whether you say yes or no."

Persephone observed the small white diamond flower shining on her hand, in perfect contrast with her magenta skin. She smiled.

"It’s a decision that requires strength and power. And I have it now. _I know I have._"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuuuys! This is the end! Not a long story (for my standards xD), but I hope it was worth it! For this last chapter my law studies made me prefer a "legal" fight over a more physical one, and I also tried to stick to what Rachel said, about the fact that she would like the whole Apollo storyline to end up as an opportunity for everyone to learn something. In short, I hope you liked it! Thank you very, very much for reading, and please, if you want, let me know what you think! As in Futurama, my ego monster must be fed! xD  
Love ya all, have a good day, night, or whatever it is now where you live.   
Bye <3


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